In June, Fiorentina faced West Ham in the Europa Conference League Final. It was a special opportunity for both clubs: West Ham had waited more than 40 years to lift a major trophy, while Fiorentina was forced to start from scratch in the third tier of Italy in 2002.
In the end, West Ham won thanks to a 90th-minute strike from Jarrod Bowen. As devastating as it was for the Italian side, Fiorentina might have another opportunity soon enough. Juventus, who finished just above the Tuscan club, have dropped out of the competition because of accounting problems, meaning Fiorentina will likely be placed back in.
They might soon be aiming for more than the Conference League. Over a few seasons, Fiorentina has been strengthening the squad and planning for the future — not exactly common for Serie A clubs — and their combination of young talent and smart recruitment means they are building a strong squad.
Fiorentina has a stacked defense, conceding just 43 goals last year. In the center, they have Serbian international Nikola Milenkovic, the underrated Lucas Martínez Quarta, and Serie A veteran Igor. On the right, they have former Shakhtar talent Dodo, and, on the left, captain Cristiano Biraghi. Upcoming talent Fabiano Parisi recently signed from Empoli, adding another quality option on the left. In goal, they have experienced Serie A veteran Pietro Terracciano.
They have some good midfielders, too: Gaetano Castrovilli, Alfred Duncan, Giacomo Bonaventura, and Antonin Barak are all solid options. However, there’s one player clearly better than the others: Sofyan Amrabat. The Moroccan made headlines for his performances in the World Cup, but he was strong with Fiorentina, too. He played more than 3000 minutes, including a strong performance against West Ham.
There are many strong forwards, too, but there are three main stars. The first is Nicolás González, the club’s record signing. Since arriving from Stuttgart in 2021, he’s scored 22 goals and assisting 14. Then, there’s Jonathan Ikoné — the French winger struggled in his first season but had a much-improved second year in Florence. Finally, there’s striker Arthur Cabral, who has scored 19 times since arriving in 2022.
Fiorentina is going to have to fend off interest in its players, with Amrabat and Igor being linked with big moves abroad. However, the club has lost some key players in recent years (see: Vlahovic and Chiesa) and continues to get stronger. Their recruitment and development is trusted, and they have a very young squad — they only have five players 30 or older, one of whom didn’t play last season.
Add in young, exciting signings like Parisi and we could see Fiorentina near the top of the Serie A soon enough.
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Image Courtesy of Egghead06, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.